Queensland under-18 rugby league team
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| Team information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Maroons | |
| Governing body | Queensland Rugby League | |
| Head coach | Kurt Richards | |
| Captain | Josh James | |
| Top try-scorer | Kirisome Auva'a Fanitesi Niu Caleb Timu (2) | |
| Top point-scorer | Josh James Josh Fauid (10) | |
| Home stadium | Suncorp Stadium (52,500) | |
| Uniforms | ||
| ||
| Team results | ||
| First game | ||
 New South Wales 34–12 Queensland  (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane; 11 June 2008) | ||
| Biggest win | ||
| Queensland 34–12 New South Wales (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane; 5 June 2019) | ||
| Biggest defeat | ||
| New South Wales 56–6 Queensland (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane; 26 June 2013) | ||
The Queensland Under-18 rugby league team, also known as Queensland Under-18s or Queensland U18, represents Queensland in the sport of rugby league at an under-18 age level. Since 2008, the team has played an annual fixture against the New South Wales Under-18 team as a curtain raiser to a State of Origin game. The team features players selected from Queensland's premier under-18 rugby league competition, the Mal Meninga Cup. They are administered by the Queensland Rugby League.
Prior to 2008, junior interstate matches were contested at under-17 and under-19 levels. In 2008, with the advent of the National Youth Competition, the age levels switched to an under-16 and under-18 format to keep in line with the NSWRL's existing SG Ball Cup and Harold Matthews Cup competitions and the QRL's Mal Meninga Cup and Cyril Connell Cup competitions, which would begin in 2009.
Queensland suffered defeat in the first four under-18 Origin fixtures, not winning a game until 2012. The 2012 team, which featured future NRL players Anthony Milford, Kodi Nikorima and Lloyd Perrett, held on to defeat New South Wales 24–18 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Queensland would suffer two more defeats in 2013 and 2014 before picking up their second win in 2015, defeating New South Wales 22–18 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Queensland snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory in 2019.[1]
Players
Players selected for the Queensland under-18 team are usually contracted with a National Rugby League (NRL) side but play in either the Mal Meninga Cup, Hastings Deering Colts, Jersey Flegg Cup or Intrust Super Cup competitions. In 2008, before the Mal Meninga Cup began, players were selected from the under-18 representative carnival in Proserpine.[2] Each pre-season the Queensland Rugby League will select an under-18 squad featuring players in contention for the mid-season fixture. The squad participates in a weekend camp at the Queensland Academy of Sport.[3]
2020 squad
The 34-man training squad selected for the 2020 season:[4]
Notable players
Since 2008, twenty-two former Queensland under-18 players have gone onto represent Queensland at State of Origin level:
- Jai Arrow
- Patrick Carrigan
- Xavier Coates
- Reuben Cotter
- Tom Dearden
- Tino Fa'asuamaleaui
- David Fifita
- Dane Gagai
- Tom Gilbert
- Coen Hess
- Valentine Holmes
- Ben Hunt
- Ethan Lowe
- Andrew McCullough
- Josh McGuire
- Anthony Milford
- Michael Morgan
- Justin O'Neill
- Joe Ofahengaue
- Josh Papalii
- Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
- Murray Taulagi
